


Amber Moon

by orphan_account



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Nightmares, Poor Varian (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22788790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Quirin knew that part of his life was over.Never again would his mind trail back to his past: the man he served, the brother and sister he stood alongside, the black rocks...His life was different now. He had a son, who he loved very much. But even after being freed from the amber, Quirin still had the same nightmare every night.And Varian's screams were becoming unbearably heart wrenching.
Relationships: Quirin & Varian (Disney)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 130





	Amber Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I really wish the show would include Quirin more, and his past is still unknown to Varian I assume. I really hope we get some father-son screen time soon, that stuff makes my heart melt :'D
> 
> Anyways, here's a short one-shot, minor angst warning

Quirin had left that life behind.  
  
No more risk. No more what if's. No more magic.  
  
That part of his life was over. It had long left him over 20 years ago, and yet it still haunted him in the present. He had a son now, aged sixteen in a month. He had his hands full as it was, but every night he had the same nightmare, over and over and over again. And as much as he hated to admit it...  
  
He was scared.  
  
Terrified that he'd lose the only light left in his life. His son.  
  
It always began with the moon. Every single damn night.  
  
\- - -  
  
The moon glared down at the deep, dark woods mercilessly, casting sickly white light on the edge of every oak, spruce and pine.  
  
Quirin found himself in the same place every night: directly at the mouth of the evil forest. To his back, was his sleeping village, mostly silent other than the occasional hoot of a night owl. Before him, was a complex tangle of trees, thorn bushes, vines, and a variety of tall snaking grasses, all in which looked wild and untamed in the midnight glow.  
  
He always felt the urge to turn away. To walk back down the domesticated path to his village and never return. But his dreams never began that way.  
  
"Dad!"  
  
Quirin's heart shot into his throat, and his legs buzzed with the urge to run. He struggled to find his own voice in his lungs, fear overtaking him for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
"Varian?" He finally found his voice, which sounded rather suppressed and hushed to his dismay. "Varian! Where are you?" He called into the woods, before breaking into a sprint, ignoring the stinging of leaves as they whipped past him. His breathing was labored as he tore into the forest, and already his eyes were burning with tears.  
  
He's had this dream before. He knew what was coming next. But it never failed, Quirin would always blast into the dark wood, voice hoarse as he yelled for his son, only to be greeted with long moments of perilous silence.  
  
"DAD!"  
  
Varian's voice suddenly exploded into the night sky, causing Quirin's breath to hitch and feet to freeze into the earth. His heart was hammering in his chest as sweat beaded his large brow, eyes frantically flitting back and forth like a madman's, audibly huffing in exhaustion.  
  
"Dad, the rocks!" Varian's voice sounded abruptly to his left, the graveness seemingly dissolved from his words. For a moment, Quirin swore he heard...excitement?  
  
Without anymore hesitation, Quirin rushed into the thicket wall of thorns and vines, letting out a barbaric roar as he tore through the exotic forcefield of swordlike needles that sliced every inch of bare skin and yanked at every fiber of his clothing. When he finally broke free onto the other side, he found himself stumbling into a familiar space, and his head throbbed in utter confusion as his eyes took in his new surroundings.  
  
He was standing in his son's lab.  
  
Everything that was displayed was in perfect detail: the rickety wooden table holding an excessive amount of alchemical supplies and research papers, tarps and aprons lay abandoned on the floor to his left, even his windowsill harbored the exact same vials of chemicals (unknown to Quirin) as they did in reality. Everything was in it's place.  
  
In a second flat, Quirin tore his attention away from the room when he heard a familiar hum of excitement bubble up from Varian's throat. Before him, Varian stood hunched over a giant black spike that had shot diagonally through the floorboards, creating an almost level table of perfectly testable obsideon. The boy had his back to him, unaware of his father's presence it seemed, mumbling on and on about how fascinating the rock was and how unnatural its alchemic makeup was. He was swirling a toxic yellow solution around excitedly as he self-conversed, his voice growing shriller at every hypothesis that sprung from his lips.  
  
Quirin would have smiled or even let out a chuckle at the sight, but his mind instantly reminded him he had seen this all before. Everything down to the vials in the windowsill. His heartrate skyrocketed again.  


Varian continued with a dorky snort, his head bobbing with emphasis as he spoke to his pet raccoon, voice oddly normal and unbearably authentic. Quirin felt sick as Varian tugged his goggles down over his eyes dramatically, leaning over the black rock in preparation.  
  
He carefully placed the now uncorked yellow vial onto the flat surface of the spike before turning away, and Quirin guessed his son was looking for something.  
  
"Son," he tried, but his voice seemingly dissolved into nothingness to Varian's ears, as the boy continued rummaging through a disorganized barrel beneath the table. "Varian, listen to me!" He said louder, voice rumbling as anxiety began creeping down his spine.  
  
Varian continued fumbling through the barrel, elbow deep in odd tools that clanked and scraped against the wood mercilessly. Finally, the boy let out a "a-ha!" before rising to his feet, pipette pinched nimbly between his gloved fingers. He swiveled on the balls of his feet in celebration, bumping his elbow into the open vial of that damned solution, spilling it's entire contents onto the surface of the black spike. The vial hit the ground with a loud clatter, but the sound was mute to Varian it seemed, as he continued celebrating with his back to the now reacting solution.  
  
Panic sept into Quirin's gut as he connected the chain of events, his eyes brimming with boiling, hot tears as he tried to take a step forward.  
  
"Varian!" He roared desperately, attempting to draw up his knee in preparation to sprint, but his foot remained stuck to the floorboards. Frantically, he glared down at his trembling feet, lungs shrinking at the sight of some sort of dense, magenta goo holding him in place. "Varian, get back!" He demanded in a voice unlike his own, thrashing his large broad arms as Varian faced him.  
  
Hope fluttered like a wounded bird in his ribcage as Varian's blue eyes met his, but it was short-lived as his gaze shifted past him a second later. A yellow drop of the reacting solution hit the floor near Varian's foot, and instantly burst into the transparent golden crystal Quirin knew too well.  
  
The yellow rock sprouted around Varian's ankle hungrily, pinning the boy firmly to the ground within seconds. Varian let out a startled yelp as the rock grew in size slowly, lifting him slightly off of the floor.  
  
"No, no, no, no, no.." Varian stammered, voice growing brisk and tight as he tried to free himself. He subconsciously abandoned the pipette he had self-congratulated himself for moments earlier before trying steady himself on the wooden table, panic overtaking his features as he struggled.  
  
"No!" Quirin snarled, thrashing in fury. He wanted ever so badly to shut his eyes and vanish from this nightmare, to wake up in his creaky bed and see the sunlight's pale light filter through his window and remind him that he was okay, and Varian was safe.  
  
But no.  
  
He was forced to watch the amber savagely devour his son's left leg, first in anger, later in fear.  
  
"Ruddiger," Varian began nervously, his arms raised in growing panic. "G-Go get Dad," he finally stammered, adding a yelp as another spike of amber clenched his wrist.  
  
Quirin felt sick as the raccoon ran straight through him and out of the room, leaving him to watch the events progress. "Son," Quirin began, tears welling in his eyes as the amber increased in size, raising the young alchemist up off of the ground, splitting the floorboards in the process. Quirin's throat felt dry as he lost his words, eyes pinned on his son despite the growing urge to look away.  
  
Varian let out a hiss of pain as the amber began to encase his bottom half, rising rather quickly now. Quirin could almost feel the pain himself, after all, he had known first-hand what it felt like to be encased in the brutal yellow rock.  
  
He wouldn't have wished it upon his worst enemy.  
  
"Dad!" Varian cried after a couple of minutes of being alone, and Quirin grimaced as the amber clawed up his son's chest before holding his shoulders in place with its yellow claws. "D-Dad, I'm sorry!"  
  
Quirin wasn't expecting to hear Varian apologize. It broke his heart even more. Quirin let out a groan of panicked frustration as his legs grew weak from all of the thrashing, his eyes not leaving Varian's form, which was now towering over him in the grasp of the amber.  
  
"Son, it's not your f-fault," Quirin cringed as his voice quivered. He felt weak. Useless. "I'm the one who's sorry! Sorry that I've kept so much from you.."  
  
Despite this, Varian continued deafly, tears brimming his eyes as he bit his lip. "I'm sorry I couldn't make you p-proud!"  
  
Quirin shook his head vigorously, hands hovering in front of him as he steadied himself. "No, son! Don't say such things! You've made me immensely proud! Nothing can ever change that!" He said desperately, heart throbbing with hurt and guilt. His son felt like he was a disappointment to him.  
  
Even in his nightmares.  
  
Varian let out a gasp as the crystal snaked up his neck, crooked yellow branches sprouting off the edges of the giant amber form in the room. "D-Daddy!" He cried, voice incredibly immature and weak, but it slammed into Quirin's heart as soon as he had heard it. "I.." He let out a pained wheeze as the amber sharply drew up to his chin. "I...love..y-you." Varian whispered, a final tear falling before the toxic yellow crystal sealed his expression, silencing his cries instantly.  
  
The only sounds left were the greedy groans of the amber as it grew and the hushed whimpers of Quirin as he sobbed.  
  
His son stood suspended in the yellow transparent mountain of amber, his face twisted in an expression of fear and pain, eyes shut tight and lips drawn back into a grimace. It was as if he wasn't even a human anymore. He appeared almost lifeless.  
  
Quirin couldn't bring himself to look anymore. He instead pathetically stared at his feet which were still being held down by the solution of Varian's design, and let out a heart wrenching cry. A roar as his emotions burst free, racking his entire robust form with pitiful sobs.  
  
And then he woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> This was kinda bad but oh whale :0


End file.
